Cozy Games are all the Same

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#stardewvalley #coralisland

[piperslice]

the best part of coral island seems to be the depth of the characters and dialogue, which is the opposite of fae farm. but yes overall this farm trend is SO TIRING.

[crabgraph]

I feel like the label of a cozy game is so limited. I feel I play games like Cities Skylines and Planet Coaster like they are cozy games, but no one calls them that!

[Richarmeleon]

You should check out the Rune Factory series. I constantly find myself missing it over every other farming game.

[cottageworm]

idk maybe i'm selfish but personally, i am LOVING this cozy game boom, i adore coral island just as much but in a different way to how i adore stardew, the vibes are different, in ways i can explain and ways i can't. I also love fae farm, ooblets, palia, acnh, etc etc, i think the fact that companys have realized the value in the "cozy" game market means there are more options for people who are pickier, more people thinking about it, more innovation, etc etc, plus the boom of cozy games (aka more femme appealing games) legitimizes them, the way FPS games (and other more masc appealing games) have always been considered legit serious games.

[Composercleo]

Good to know I’m not missing out every time a new one comes out😅 love stardew

[princewolfchild]

I think I would play Coral Island over Stardew, only because CI is far more visually accessible to me. Being legally blind, the pixel style messes with my eyes and the text is hard to read. But yeah, this just like every other farm game, is the same. There are only a few that do something different.

[moviemoment]

I feel like developers missed the idea of cozy games and just thought it meant farming. Lol. There is a game about being a mail carrier, The Courier, coming out and I'm interested. I like games were I can play as a batista, a hiker, or mail carrier. Just give me a job, make it aesthetic and I'd probably play it!

[mousegrey]

I prefer coral island to stardew valley, personally. I prefer the art style, the slower game speed, I really enjoy diving, more variety to foraging, the fishing doesn’t make me want to break things, the NPCs and their stories hold more appeal. It’s all personal preference. I think the only thing I miss from SV are junimos.

[irgendwelchedinge]

The game that scratched that same but different itch for me this year was Ooblets - The art was unique, the soundtrack was on my spotify wrapped cause it slapped so hard and it had farming but not in the same way. I hope they’ll do a DLC cause I live ooblets!

[doctorworm]

I like coral island because it actually has a lot more Javanese culture and stardew valley is very white there’s like two black characters and it’s very binary. Coral island doesn’t make you choose between boy and girl you can be nonbinary. Plus the festivals are actually fun.

[DragonPanda]

The problem with not copying also comes down to comparison, as well. So many NEW things get compared to things we love dearly, and it's really hard to climb that mountain, and is why many just become that mountain instead.

[squeakretagent]

You should check out Cattails Wildwood Story! It's basically a cozy rpg where you play as a cat and you recruit other cats to build your town, plus you can marry them (npcs can also marry each other!) and have kittens!

HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who loves cats. It's so adorable and fun!

[hipunpun]

imo it's a factor of recency, if Coral Island was released 5-10 years later it wouldn't feel as samey
in the same way Stardew Valley doesn't feel too samey to Harvest Moon as it's had enough time to settle in & for us to yearn for a new replacement in the farming space

I could be wrong, just a thought :)

[WilbosWorld]

I think the same thing when I’m playing a new farming game. “is there a reason I shouldn’t just play stardew valley”. But one thing I like about this cozy game boom is that people have so many options to choose from now. Before it was just “Stardew Valley”, “Rune Factory”, or “Story of Seasons”. Hopefully in the future we get more cozy games with a completely unique premise and unique mechanics. I think that all of the farming games coming out at once makes them all blend together a bit. They aren’t bad games, but a lot of them feel really similar to Stardew Valley.

[naz]

Pathea games have always stood out to me and have always been games I enjoyed playing the most from the "cozy" genre, namely My Time at Sandrock, they did something I've never seen before, where you move into town as a "builder" and take commissions to earn money, instead of cutting trees to get wood, you pick apart wood scraps. Conserving water and not cutting down trees is a big deal in Sandrock so it feels very good doing all those things, unlike in Coral Island where I felt like the environmentalism was way too "in your face" and honestly made me kind of not want to play. For me, video games are supposed to be an escape. I love environmentalist things in real life and do my part every single day, but virtually, I would much rather live in a town where conserving water is important than water my crops and dig out trash from the ocean right afterwards like my life depends on it.

So check out the My Time at ... series! It is really unique and really well made. I'm also very hopeful and excited for Palia and can't wait to see what they do! <3

[lemonicedtea]

Really enjoying My time at Sandrock as an alternative! the storyline with it is more involved and its set in a sandy desert which makes a change :)

[lynk]

Honestly one of the biggest ones for me is the cast is actually super diverse and openly representative. Not to mention actually interesting. I'm an ethnic minority and so whenever I see games that are still popular in 2023 with an all white cast without some lore reason it actually just makes me feel really disconnected from it and kinda unincluded. As much as I like all the QOL and graphic updates to Coral island I think the thing that made my heart happiest was the npc's in it and the festivals that weren't just plain and a bland ego boost. They're interactive and really go all out. By far the best festivals out of any farm sim I've ever played.

[SweetAsSugarr]

Only real fans didn’t stop watching Kora when the ACNH hype died

[MissCaseyFace]

I totally agree with the lesser-budgeted games being the gems out there right now vs the "highly marketed" ones. Aka, Spiritfarer, Roki and Wytchwood have been my favorites lately.

[ZombieZayne]

It’s still crazy to me that I would consider most of these “cozy” games (including Stardew Valley) to be quite stressful, yet Metroid Fusion, Red Dead Redemption, and Terraria on Master Mode are my go-to relaxing experiences. This cozy stress comes from me wanting to perfect the daily routine and make sure everything turns out how I want it to, while the difficult combat games are just my muscle memory and skill, less stressing over filling my inventory with gifts to give after watering my crops and tending to my animals. Those non-farming cozy games are also a no-go for me with how they usually don’t have enough substance for me to maintain interest in them.

On the topic of what I would want in a cozy game, I’d probably have to say an esoteric feeling. To be specific, The Long Drive has you driving on an endless road on the quest to see your mother after receiving a letter in the mail. You grab your stuff, throw it in your old car, and drive. That feeling of loneliness in an endless open land is so hard to describe, but man do I love it. Cult of the Lamb also gives me that esoteric feeling, but more so in the meta understanding of gaming more so than the in-game feeling.

Wow, didn’t expect this comment to become a short essay.

(Also, the first time I stepped out of my house during winter in Stardew Valley was an absolutely magical experience I can still recall, with the music being a major contributor to the overall feeling.)